Forget Rohloffs, pedelecs, and everything else; I want one of these!

[Danneaux]

Hi All!

Yesterday while shopping at Walmart (America's biggest discount retail store chain), I came across a relic of my youth -- the handlebar-mounted noisemaker that sounds like a motorcycle engine when you twist the handgrip.

I was 15 when this advertisement for "RAW POWER!" aired on American television: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnzZaIagkXE , though it appealed more to the 8 year-old in me than the car-besotted teenager I was then (I established my car repair business the next year).

I remember using spring-loaded clothespins to hold playing cards against my spokes so they went Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! as I rode along. Sort of "motorcyclish", but with a more homegrown sound than the RAW POWER! Walmart sometimes offers a megaphone-style version of the playing-card-in-spokes idea, and it is really Loud: https://www.vat19.com/item/turbospoke-bicycle-exhaust-system

Are there any "bike toys" from your own childhoods you fondly remember and -- secretly -- wish you could install on your bicycle today? 

All the best,

Dan. (...who is feeling nostalgic today)

[mickeg]

With some longer bolts and a little bit of bending on the mount, this bell fit on my 31.8mm handlebars.  Of course this means I am still living my childhood.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Classic-Bike-Accessory-Retro-Bicycle-Bell-Alarm-Metal-Handlebar-Horn-/400779987682

[Danneaux]

I like your bell, mickeg...I have a squeeze-bulb parrot squeaky toy "horn" on the handlebars of my tandem. It never fails to bring a smile from child and adult alike!

All the best,

Dan.